May I applaud Dr Joe for highlighting the divisive practices by business owners of employing hundreds of thousands of "virtual slaves" - as he correctly puts it - rather than paying proper wages to Bahrainis "Things have changed" (GDN, April 20).

However, I must correct his assertion that Frank Gardner never visited village communities during his time in Bahrain. In fact, Mr Gardner is fluent in Arabic and spent a lot of time talking with Bahrainis from all walks of life, as he details in his book. Mr Gardner is more qualified than most to comment on the current situation. Jim from Canada